Virtual visualization of golf chip shots

ABSTRACT

A method of teaching a golfer to execute proper chip shots including a height bar that being placed in front of a golfer the golfer being on the fairway and the height bar being placed at the edge of a rough. The height bar is adjustable horizontally. The golfer being taught to loft the ball over the eight bar with an apex of the ball flight coinciding with the height bar. By virtual visualization, the various successive chip shots will be embedded in the golfer&#39;s mind to remember the type of club that was used, the loft of the ball and the fading trajectory toward the hole.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] (none)

STATEMENT REGARDING FED SPONSORED R & D

[0002] (none)

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The invention at hand relates to a teaching aid and a method of teaching proper chip shots in the game of golf. Most professionals including teachers of golf will lecture a learning golfer or for that matter a seasoned golfer to pick a spot on the green as a target and then try to hit that spot. Of course, this is better than no plan at all. The inventive type of teaching is designed to eliminate any guesswork at all. Of course, the game of golf is a mental game in that golfers rely on memory of golf shots that have gone before by remembering the good shots and the stance, selection of golf clubs, the loft of the ball and the distance that the ball traveled, the wind direction and the topography of the surrounding area and other influences. It is seldom that all of the influences named above can be repeated all of the time.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In view of all of the above, the present invention will take some of the guesswork out of playing golf and relegate some of the guesswork to a visual memory. This visual memory herein after will be called a virtual visualization of the golf ball flight including the loft the ball will attain. It is extremely difficult to repeat a certain loft of a ball that was successful because of the failure of the memory of the golfer. The present invention will alleviate the failure by placing a simple device in front of a golfer at a certain distance from the hole that all golfers try to sink the ball into.

[0005] The device mentioned above is a simple height bar that is placed between the golfer and the hole over which guide bar the golfer must send the ball to be successful to hit the hole. The placement of the height bar depends on the distance of the golfer from the hole. The distance depends of where the golfer is located on the fairway and on the green where the hole is located in between the two locations there may a rough like a sand barrier or a so-called bunker to inhibit a straight drive toward the hole. In an exercise mode the inventive concept places a height bar between the golfer and the hole. Of course, the selection of the club depends on the distance to be covered. Without regard to the topography, one might try to place a ball to be hit on a fairway, place a height barrier between the fairway and the rough and the green and try to loft the ball at its apex right over the height barrier, the resultant hit of the ball on the ground should be right at the hole.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1 shows the construction of the height barrier for a golfer;

[0007]FIG. 2 shows the various ways a height barrier can be constructed;

[0008]FIG. 3 illustrates a method of using the height barrier of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009]FIG. 1 shows a detailed description 1 of how a horizontal barrier 4 can be constructed and supported in various horizontal positions. To this end, there are two vertical stanchions 2 and 2 a that are supported on the ground and are spaced apart from each other by a spacer bar 4 a and each of the stanchions is further supported on the ground by laterally extending bars 3 and 3 a, respectively, The horizontal bar 4 is incrementally supported by the pegs 4 a and 4 b. The supports 4 a and 4 b can be moved to different height positions by moving the supports 4 a and 4 b to locations 4 c and 4 d, for example.

[0010]FIG. 2 shows different ways of creating a horizontal bar for the golfer to observe. To this end, FIG. 2A shows a cable that may stretched across from stanchion 2 to another spaced apart stanchion that is placed a distance from the first stanchion. The cable 8 a has a hook 8 b thereon that may be hooked to the other stanchion to create a straight line which may act as a barrier for a golfer to loft a shot of the ball over the barrier. The knob 6 a will adjust the height of the sleeve 2 a to different heights.

[0011]FIG. 2B shows a horizontal barrier 9 a consisting of a tape 9 a that may be unreeled from a spring operated reel 9. The tape may be unreeled from this reel 9 until it reaches the stanchion on the other side where it is fastened. The height of the reel 9 and thereby the visual height of the barrier may be adjusted by the knob 6 b by moving the sleeve 2 b to different position, that is, up or down.

[0012]FIG. 3 shows the method of hitting a golf ball from the fairway across a rough to the hole. The distance of the fairway is indicated as A and the distance B indicates the distance between the a horizontal barrier 4 and the putting green to the flag or hole distance C.

[0013] The horizontal barrier 4 is placed between the golfer and the putting green C. As can clearly be seen in FIG. 3 the golfer

[0014] A third embodiment is shown in FIG. 2C where a laser beam is used to beam a stream of light particles from the originating station 7 to another like station located a distance away from the stanchion 2. The knob 6 c will accommodate a height adjustment.

[0015] Returning now to FIG. 3, the golfer's intent is to loft the ball just over the horizontal barrier 4 so that it can land on the green C and possibly roll into the hole where the flag is located. Depending on the distance between A and C, the barrier 4 on the stanchion has to be raised or lowered which would depend on experimentation The whole idea is, by experimentation, to select the correct club, the correct swing and the correct velocity of the swing so that the ball in its flight toward the hole will clear the horizontal barrier by a loft of D and then continue on to the hole. While this involves a lot of experimentation, it also is a mental exercise. By using the barrier 4 in practice, it becomes apparent that the loft of the ball in its apex will be embedded in the brain of the golfer whereby a consistent and accurate chip shot will be experienced in successive shots

[0016] Virtual visualization is the mental side of the game of golf, that is, to memorize the flight of the ball including an apex of the flight of the ball over the height bar whether it is there in practice or not in reality on the course. The loft of the ball is important. When in practice observe and picture the loft of the ball, how the ball reaches an apex just over the height bar and how the trajectory of the ball is spent. It is a matter teaching one's mind to see the elevation of the loft and once this can be done over and over again, one doesn't need the height bar anymore in practice.

[0017] What is practiced here is the system of kinesthesia wherein in one's mind one feels the sensation of the body, the muscles, the tendons and the joints while hitting golf shots.

[0018] It is the concentration one should use to block out any outside distractions of any outside influences which are extraneous to the game of golf. 

What I claim is:
 1. A method of teaching a technique of proper chip shots comprising the steps of placing a height bar in front of a golfer at an edge of the rough on the golf course, the golfer being on the fairway, using a club, the golfer will loft the ball over said height bar, watching the golfer clearing the height bar with an apex of the flight of the ball being over said height bar and watching the flight of the ball as it fades away over the green of the golf course toward the flag in a hole, thereafter correcting the golfer if any aspects of the above steps have not been accomplished by changing the club, the stance of the golfer or the velocity of driving said ball.
 2. An aid in teaching golf including a height bar, means for adjusting said height bar at different heights from the ground, means for supporting said height bar in front of a golfer by way of two stanchions spaced apart from each other.
 3. The height bar of claim 2, wherein said height bar is a rigid horizontal bar being supported by a peg on each of said stanchions.
 4. The height bar of claim 2 is a rope coming from a tension reel located on one of the stanchions and a hook receiving peg on the other of said stanchions.
 5. The height bar of claim 2, wherein said height bar is a tape coming from a tension reel located on one of the stanchions and means for fastening said tape on the other of said stanchions.
 6. The height bar of claim 2, wherein said height bar is a laser beam.
 7. The height bar of claim 2, wherein said means for adjusting include sleeves movable up or down said stanchion, a thumb screw on each of said sleeves for fastening said sleeves to each of said stanchions. 